Fluidized process for direct reduction

ABSTRACT

A fluidized bed direct process is discharged for reducing raw iron ore fines and directly producing a steel product. The disclosed process includes a process for feeding raw iron ore fines into a multi-stage reactor assembly; a process for reducing fines in fluidized beds developed by a counter-current flow of reducing gas, where the reducing gas is developed in a reformer assembly; and, a process for recycling offgas exiting said reactor assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a plant and method for producing compacteddirect reduced iron using iron ore fines as the feedstock and naturalgas as the source of reducing gas.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Iron ore reduction processes fall into two ore feedstock and tworeduction mechanism categories. Processes which use static or movingbeds in shaft furnaces use lump iron ore and iron ore pellets as thefeedstock whereas fluid bed processes utilize iron ore fines as thefeedstock. The two routes for the reduction of the ores are theproduction of reducing gas from natural gas by reforming and the directreduction by carbon containing compounds such as coal.

A number of direct reduction processes have been perfected and have beenoperated commercially. The majority of plants being installed presentlyare moving bed systems operating with lump or pellet feedstock and usingnatural gas to produce the reducing gas by reforming. Iron ore in theform of fines is more plentiful but is only being used as a feedstock inone commercial direct reduction plant at present. This process, whichuses fluid beds, has been covered by several patents, among them#07/501,490. The plant, owned by FIOR de Venezuela, has a higher energyconsumption than the moving bed processes, and in spite of the lowercost fines feedstock, is not a viable alternative in some situationswhere energy costs are high.

Accordingly, there is a need to develop a direct reduction process whichutilizes more plentiful and cheaper iron ore fines as a feedstock andwhich has a unit energy consumption similar to that achieved with theshaft furnace moving bed processes. Therefore, energy conservation isachieved by use of this process as compared to existing processes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed towards an improved direct reductionassembly for reducing finely divided iron ore material in fluid bedsusing reducing gas generated from natural gas and steam.

The direct reduction plant assembly is comprised of an ore feedassembly, a preheat assembly, a reducing reactor assembly, a reducinggas generation assembly, a recycle gas assembly, and a productcompacting and inerting assembly.

Iron ore fines of less than 1/2" diameter are charged continuously tothe preheat assembly by cycling pressurized lockhoppers in the ore feedassembly. The fines are heated in the preheat assembly by sensible heatof the hot reducing offgas from the uppermost reducing reactor. Thispreheater replaces a natural gas fired fluid bed preheater that is usedin the present operating plant configuration and is more efficient thanprevious plants since heat is recuperated from the spent reducing gasand does not have to be supplied by burning natural gas.

The preheat assembly comprises a series of refractory lined cyclones inseries which allow the incoming cold ore to be heated in acounter-current manner by the spent gas. The cyclones allow sufficientresidence time for heat transfer from the gas to the solids. It has alsobeen found to be possible to use an additional reactor similar to thereducing reactors as a preheater.

The preheated fines from the preheat assembly enter the reducing reactorassembly where the reduction process occurs in three fluidized beds at apressure of approximately 10 atmospheres. The ore is fluidized by hotreducing gas which is a mixture of fresh reducing gas from the reducinggas generation assembly and recycle gas from the recycle gas assembly.The gas travels upward through the reactors while the ore travelsdownward by gravity resulting in a counter-current process.

Fresh reducing gas is generated in a reformer by heating a preheatedmixture of natural gas and steam in catalyst filled tubes to about850-875 degrees C. Where reaction to form H2 and CO occurs. These arethe two principals components of the reducing gas. The required steam isgenerated in the heat recuperator of the reformer. Combustion air andnatural gas are also preheated in the recuperator section in order tomaximize thermal efficiency of the process.

The reformed gas is mixed directly with heated recycle gas without beingcooled down first as is the case in the present plant. This improvementis possible due to the use of a lower ratio of steam to natural gas anda higher reforming temperature These conditions result in smalleramounts of H2O in the product reformed gas and it is therefore notnecessary to cool the gas to condense out the unreacted steam prior tousing the gas for reduction. In addition to the reduction in equipmentrequirements, the energy requirement of the process is also reduced,since the reformed gas does not have to be cooled and then-reheated toreaction temperature.

The recycle gas is formed from the exit gas from the preheater assembly.The gas is first quenched to cool it and to remove fines and H2O formedfrom the reduction reaction. The cleaned gas is compressed and thenscrubbed to remove CO2 and H2S formed in the reduction process, and isthen heated in a furnace to around 750-850 degrees C. before mixing withfresh reducing gas.

The preheating of the ore by spent reducing gas results in the formationof H2S from the reaction of S in the ore with H2 in the gas. The H2S inthe recycle gas can be adjusted by varying operating conditions in thescrubber so that the need to inject H2S into the reducing gas to avoidmetal dusting is eliminated. This is an advantage over the presentprocess in which costly H2S has to be injected.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to provide adirect reduction plant and process which uses iron ore fines asfeedstock.

A further object of this invention is to provide a more economicaldirect reduction plant and process with reduced energy consumption. Thisis achieved by the elimination of a natural gas fired preheat reactorand direct use of the reformed gas in the reducing reactors.

A further object of this invention is to eliminate the use of H2Sinjection into the reducing gas in order to prevent metal dusting of thefurnace tubes and other plant components.

A further object of this invention is to lower the fines inventory ofthe system by directly discharging de-entrained, reduced fines from thefinal cyclone to the product discharge line. Re-injection ofde-entrained, reduced fines into the final reduction chamber have beenproven to be deleterious to the operation of fines based directreduction processes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a more compact directreduction plant and process with reduced capital investment. Theelimination of the ore preheater fluid bed with associated aircompressor and scrubber, the elimination of the equipment required tocooldown the reformed gas, and the elimination of the H2S dosing systemresult in less capital investment. Use of a vertical freestandingreactor assembly also reduces structural costs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature of the present invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the overall plant including ore feedassembly, preheat reactor assembly, reducing reactor assembly, reducinggas generation assembly, recycle gas assembly, and briquetting assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The Plant Assembly

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is directed towards a directreduction plant assembly, generally referred to as 11, and process forreducing finely divided iron oxide in fluidized beds and thereaftercompacting and passivating the reduced material. Hereinafter, individualcomponents and assemblies shall be referred to numerically and may bereferenced in the drawing.

Referring to FIG. 1, the direct reduction plant assembly 11 is comprisedof an ore feed assembly 201, a preheat assembly 301, a reducing reactorassembly 401, a reducing gas generation assembly 501, a recycle gasassembly 601 and a compacting/inerting assembly 701.

The ore feed, preheat, and reducing reactor assemblies are located indecreasing elevations so as to allow flow of the ore through the systemby gravity. Due to the fact that the reactors operate at high pressure,the reduced product can be transported to the compacting/passivatingassembly pneumatically, and therefore said compacting/passivatingassembly is located at grade next to the reactor assembly rather thanbelow it.

Through the incorporation of external ore transfer lines and cyclonesinto the process, the reducing reactors can be mounted vertically in afreestanding manner which results in a more compact layout and reducedstructural steel requirements.

The Plant Process

The present invention is directed to a plant and process for directreduction utilizing a multi-stage fluid bed reactor system in which thefluidizing and reducing gas is produced by reforming of natural gas. Theprocess operates at high pressure and utilizes a recycle gas stream toimprove its efficiency.

The reducing gas is comprised principally of CO and H2 but containssmaller amounts of methane, water, and carbon dioxide. In the reactors,the CO and H2 react with the iron ore fines to form CO2 and H2O. Thesetwo reaction products are removed in the recycle gas assembly toincrease the reducing power of the recycle gas so that it can berecycled.

The hot reduced product is compacted to a density of 5.0 g/cc bysuitable commercially available compacting systems and is inerted byrapidly cooling with either air or water.

Ore Feed Assembly

Referring to FIG. 1, two 100% capacity ore feed assemblies 201 areprovided in order to maintain feed rate constant in case of problemswith one ore feed assembly. Only one of the two identical ore feedassemblies 201 is shown in FIG. 1.

The lockhopper vessels 211 and 212 are conical pressure vesselsconstructed of carbon steel which have material inlet valves 214 and 215and pressurizing and de-pressurizing lines (not shown). The upperlockhopper 211 is charged through line 220.

The upper lockhopper 211 cycles between atmospheric and reactor pressurewhile the lower lockhopper 212 operates continuously at reactorpressure. The discharge rate from lockhopper 212 is controlled by avariable speed star type feeder 213. The continuous flow of fines passesthrough line 221 to the preheat assembly 301.

Ore Feed Process

Prior to entry into the ore feed assembly, wet iron ore fines under 1/2"in diameter and with a suitable particle size distribution for use influid beds are dried, transported to the top of the plant where thelockhopper vessels 211 and 212 are located, and discharged into thelockhopper inlet line 220 by gravity. The upper lockhopper 211 at thispoint is depressurized with the upper valve 214 open and the lower valve215 closed. The upper valve 214 closes when charging is complete and thelockhopper 211 is pressurized to reactor pressure, the same pressure asin the lower lockhopper 212. The lower valve 215 opens when the lowerlockhopper 212 has low level, and the charge is transferred by gravity.The valve 215 closes and the upper lockhopper 211 de-pressurizes tobegin another cycle.

From the pressurized lower lockhopper 212 the dry iron ore fines aremetered continuously to the preheat assembly 301 at a rate consistentwith plant capacity.

Preheat Assembly

The preheat assembly 301 consists of three refractory lined carbon steelcyclones 311, 312, and 313 with the interconnecting lines 321 through329.

The first cyclone 311 is connected to the ore outlet line 221 of the orefeed assembly 201 and the gas outlet line 323 of the next lower cyclone312 by inlet line 322, which joins lines 221 and 323 at a juncture. Thegas outlet line 321 connects cyclone 311 to the recycle gas assembly601. The solids outlet line 324 of cyclone 311 connects with the gasoutlet 326 of cyclone 313 to form a juncture at the inlet line 325 tocyclone 312. In the same manner, the solids outlet line 327 of cyclone312 joins with the gas outlet line 430 of reactor assembly 401 to form ajuncture at the inlet line 328 to cyclone 313. The solids outlet 329 ofcyclone 313 is connected to the ore inlet 431 of the reducing reactorassembly 401.

Preheat Process

The function of the preheat process is to preheat the dry ore feed priorto introduction to the reducing reactor process while at the same timerecovering the sensible heat of the reactor offgas, thereby improvingthe thermal efficiency of the process.

Cool, raw iron ore fines from the ore fee assembly 201 are dischargedinto the flow of gas exiting cyclone 312 and are heated by heat exchangewith the gas. The solids are separated in cyclone 311 and drop bygravity to the inlet of cyclone 312. The cooled and cleaned gas from thecyclone 311 passes on to the recycle gas assembly 601 through line 321.

The preheated solids from cyclone 311 are further heated by the gasleaving cyclone 313 through line 326 and are separated from the gas incyclone 312. The separated solids drop to the inlet of cyclone 313 wherethey are heated further by the offgas from the reactor assembly 401which is passing though line 430. At this point the solids have attaineda temperature in the range of 600 degrees C.

The hot iron ore solids are separated from the gas in cyclone 313 andpass through line 329 to the dense phase fluid bed of the uppermostreducing reactor in the reducing reactor assembly 401.

Reducing Reactor Assembly

The reducing reactor assembly 401 is comprised of three fluid bedvessels 411, 412, and 413 mounted vertically with refractory linedconnections 421 through 430. The vertical arrangement of the vesselsallows for optimum placement of, and good access to, the externalcyclones and transfer lines as compared to a staggered or stairsteparrangement. By using the vessel walls and skirts as supports, thestructure requirements are also decreased as compared to the presentconfigurations used.

The respective reactor vessels 411, 412, and 413 are constructed of acarbon steel shell with refractory lining and are equipped with a grid414 to distribute reducing gas uniformly across the cross section of thereactor. The gas distribution grid 414 is constructed of a thin circularheat-resistant alloy plate that is slightly smaller in diameter than theinside of the reactor. The plate is perforated with holes and equippedwith inserts welded into said holes to improve gas flow distribution andminimize sticking of reduced ore fines in the holes. The circular gridplate is sealed to the carbon steel shell by a vertical cylinder made ofthin heat-resistant alloy plate and is supported centrally by a seriesof alloy pipes welded to the grid and to the shell.

Reactor 411 is located at the highest elevation and is referred to asthe uppermost reactor, reactor 412 is located beneath reactor 411 and isreferred to as the middle reactor, and reactor 413 is located directlybelow reactor 412 and is referred to as the lowermost reactor. Each ofsaid three reducing reactors 411, 412, and 413 include an ore inlet port431, an ore outlet port 432, a reducing gas inlet 433, and a reducinggas outlet 434. Reactor 411 and 412 have an additional port 431 and 435to return fines from the cyclone to the vessel. The reducing gas inletports 433 are located at the bottom of the vessels under the gasdistribution grids and the reducing gas outlet ports 434 are located atthe top of the reactor to allow gas to pass out of the vessel.

The respective ore inlet ports 431 are located about 2-3 meters abovethe grid elevation for passing ore into the dense phase fluid bed. Thelines connected to the inlet ports extend into the vessel and terminateabout 1 meter above the grid. The respective ore outlet ports 432 arelocated just above the grid elevation to allow reduced ore to overflowby gravity. These outlet lines extend into the vessels and terminate 1-2meters above the grid elevation.

The reducing reactors are connected by two parallel external transferlines, also known as standpipes, 426, for ore transfer (only onestandpipe is shown in FIG. 1) which are internally lined with refractorymaterial and equipped with a cycling slide valve 417.

The middle reactor 412 is equipped with an external cyclone 415 which isconnected to it by line 422. The solids return line 423 from the cyclone415 is connected to an ore inlet port 435 of the reactor 412. The gasoutlet line 421 of the cyclone 415 is connected to the reducing gasinlet port 433 of reactor 411. In the same manner cyclone 416 of reactor413 is connected to the reactor 413 by line 424, to reactor 412 by line425, and to the product discharge line 427 by line 428.

The preheated reducing gas is supplied to the reactor assembly throughline 429, passes through the grid 414 of the lowermost reactor 413 andreacts with the ore fines as it passes up through the fluid bed. The gasis cleaned of entrained fines in cyclone 416 and is passed on to thenext reactor 412 through refractory line 425. The reducing gas passesthrough the grid 414 of reactor 412, reacts with the suspended ironfines, exits the reactor via line 422 and passes on to reactor 411 wherethe process is repeated. Gas existing reactor 411 via line 430 goes tothe preheat assembly 301.

The reduced iron product from reactor 413 is supplied to a surge drum711 by a refractory lined pneumatic transport line 709 which uses acycling slide valve 418 to control withdrawal rate. Fines from thecyclone 416 are also discharged into the same line via line 428.

The resulting structure of stepwise feeders, preheaters and reactorsprovides a flow path for iron fines to travel downward in gravity flowthrough the system in series fashion, where each of said assemblies hasbeen fixed in graduated, decreasing height from said ore feed lockhopper211 to said lowermost reactor 413.

Reducing Reactor Process

The function of the reducing reactors 411, 412, and 413 is to removeoxygen from the iron ore fines in fluidized beds using a hot reducinggas as the fluidizing medium. There are three fluid beds in series. Theore fines flow downwards by gravity and the gas flows upward between thereactors in a counter-current manner. This counter-current contactingresults in a higher utilization of the reducing gas as compared to asingle fluidized bed.

The preheated ore fines are metered from the preheat assembly 301 intothe first reducing reactor 411 where they are partially reduced by COand H2 in the gas to a combination of wustite and iron at a temperatureof 700-725 degrees C. and a pressure of 8-12 atm. The fluidizing andreducing gas is provided by line 421 from cyclone 415. This gas is theexit gas from the middle reactor 412 and therefore has a lower reducingpotential than the reducing gas entering the lowermost or middlereactors.

The transfer between reactors 411 and 412 is made by parallel externalstandpipes 426 which connect the reactors. The external standpipes 426are equipped with slide valves 417 to initiate solids flow duringstartup but the valves are left open during operation. Thisconfiguration has shown to be more reliable then internal transferlines. The partially reduced fines fall by overflow from the ore outlet426 of reactor 411, through the upper standpipes 426 joining reactors411 and 412, and pass into reactor 412 by gravity.

The height of the dense phase fluid bed coincides with the level of thestandpipe inlet or upper extremity so that reactor inventory is fixed byappropriate adjustment of the standpipe 426 extension above the reactorgrid 414. A pressure seal is maintained in the transfer line by means ofa column of fluidized solids at the exit of the standpipe inside reactor412 to prevent gas bypassing.

Gases exiting the reactor 411 carry entrained ore solids which areremoved in the preheat cyclones and are returned to the bed along withthe ore feed through ore inlet 431. The feeding of fresh ore through thepreheat cyclones has been found to prevent buildup of material in thecyclones as occurred in previous plants or processes where cyclones wereused in ore reduction service.

The ore fines are further reduced in reactor 412 at a temperature of725-750 degrees C. and a pressure of 8-12 atm. Gas for reduction andfluidization is provided from the cyclone 416 of reactor 413 whichremoves fines from the gas exiting said reactor. Fines overflow thereactor 412 through the standpipes 426 to the lowermost reducing reactor413. The standpipes 426 connecting reactors 412 and 413 are identical inoperation and design to those described for those connecting reactors411 and 412. Reducing gas leaving reactor 412 contains entrained solidswhich are removed in cyclone 415 and the fines are returned to the fluidbed via line 423.

The fines are fluidized in the bed of the lowermost reactor 413 by freshreducing gas at a temperature of 850-900 degrees C. from the recycle gasassembly 601 and the reducing gas preparation assembly 501. This gas isthe hottest and has the highest reducing power of any gas in the plantand therefore reduces the ore fines to a final metallization level of92-94% in this bed, where metallization is defined as (% metallic iron *100)/(% total iron). Some carbon is deposited on the reduced ore in thisbed as a result of CO and CH4 components of the gas. The percentage ofcarbon is maintained in the range of 1.0 to 1.5 weight percent.

The gases exiting the bottom most reducing reactor 413 are cleaned offines in cyclone 416. The fines are directed into the product dischargeline 427 rather than being returned to the vessel. This results in lessfines inventory in the system and reduces the fouling and formation ofhard deposits in reactor 413 which can disrupt production.

The reduced product is pneumatically transferred from the fluid bed ofreactor 413 to the compacting/inerting assembly 701 by product dischargeline 427 and line 709. Solids discharge rate from the system iscontrolled by slide valve 418.

Compacting/Passivating Assembly and Process

The compacting/passivating assembly is comprised of several compactingunits in parallel (only one being shown in FIG. 1) which increases thedensity of the hot reduced iron ore to 5.0 g/cc. There are severalcommercially available processes which can be utilized. The compactingunits are followed by cooling and inerting units which reduce thetemperature from around 700 to 100 degrees C. The product is alsoinerted or passified in this step. There are commercial units availablewhich use water or air as the cooling medium for this purpose.

Reducing Gas Generation Assembly

The reducing gas generation assembly 501 provides fresh reducing gas tothe reactor assembly 401 to replenish gas used in the reductionreaction, and comprises a recuperator 511, an exhaust fan 521, an airblower 522, a steam drum 523, a desulferizer drum 524, a water pump 525,and a reformer 526.

Air blower 522 is connected to the first recuperator air preheat coil byline 531. The corresponding outlet line 532 for hot air from the firstair preheat coil of recuperator 511 is returned to the recuperator 511at the second air preheat coil. Line 533 connects the second air preheatcoil to the air inlets of the multiple burners 527 of the reformer 526.

Treated water line 534 is connected to the water inlet of therecuperator water preheat coil, which in turn connects to the steam drumor separator 523 by line 535. From the water outlet on the bottom of thesteam drum 523 water is passed through the steam generation coilsthrough lines 536, 537, 538, and 539 passing through water pump 525. Thesteam outlet on top of the steam drum 523 is connected to the steamsuperheat coil of the recuperator 511 through line 540 and then to thecatalyst tubes via line 541.

Natural gas is connected to the plant through line 542 and is divided atjuncture 550 into line 544, which goes to the burners, and line 543which goes to the inlet of the first natural gas preheat coil. The firstnatural gas preheat coil outlet is connected to the desulfurization drum524 by line 545 and line 546 connects the outlet of the desulfurizationdrum 524 to the inlet of the second natural gas preheat coil of therecuperator 511. Line 547 connects the outlet of the second natural gaspreheat coil and line 541 connects the outlet of the superheat coil ofthe recuperator 511 to the catalyst tubes in the natural gas reformer526.

The reformer 526 includes a reformer box that is hermetically sealed andis connected to the recuperator 511 by duct 551. The recuperator 511 inturn connects to the exhaust fan 521 providing a path from said reformer526, through over the recuperator 511 coils, and through said exhaustfan to vent combustion gases from said reformer 526 through line 549.The reformer box contains vertical catalyst filled alloy tubes andburners located at either the floor or roof level of the reformer 526.Reducing gas line 548 connects the exit of the reformer 526 and providesa path for natural gas after it has passed through the catalyzing tubesof the reformer 526 and been transformed to hot, reducing gas, to passto said reactor assembly 401, after the juncture with line 652 to formline 429.

Reducing Gas Generation Process

The fresh reducing gas is produced by the steam reforming of natural gasover a catalyst surface at elevated temperatures. By utilizing a lowratio of steam to natural gas and maintaining a high reformingtemperature, the amount of unreacted steam in the product is kept low,which enables the gas to be used directly for reduction.

Natural gas required for reforming has to be free of sulfur compounds inorder to prevent poisoning of the reformer catalyst. It is preheated to350 degrees C. in the first natural gas preheater coil of recuperator511 and sent to a desulfurization drum 524 filled with a solid reactantwhich reacts with the sulfur compounds and removes them from the gas.The gas is further preheated to 500 degrees C. in the second natural gaspreheat coil of recuperator 511 before being mixed with preheated steamfor the reforming step.

The steam is produced by first heating water to around 200 degrees C. inthe recuperator water preheat coil and then generating steam at 20 atmby pumping preheated water through the recuperator steam generationcoil. The steam formed is separated from water in steam drum 523. Thesteam from the drum is superheated in the recuperator steam superheatcoil to 500-550 degrees C. and mixed with natural gas at a mixing pointprior to the entrance to the catalyst tubes of reformer 526.

The heated natural gas-steam mixture in the ratio of two 1.8-2.2 volumesof steam per volume of gas, enters the catalyst filled tubes of reformer526 (only one tube shown) and is heated to 900 degrees C. as it passesdown the tube. The reforming reactions which form H2 and CO occur as thegas passes through the tube. The gas exiting the tube contains some CO2,H2O, and unreacted CH4 from the natural gas.

The heat of reaction required for reforming is provided by gas firedburners in the radiant section of the furnace of reformer 511. Theburners mix preheated air from air blower 522 with natural gas. Thecombustion gases pass through the recuperator 511 where the sensibleheat of the gas is recovered by producing and superheating combustionair. The cooled combustion gas is extracted from the recuperator 511 byexhaust fan 521 and is sent to vent.

Recycle Gas Assembly

The recycle gas assembly 601 cleans and recycles spent reducing gas fromthe preheat and reactor assemblies 301 and 401 for re-use in the reactorassembly 401 and for use in the plant fuel system. It is comprised of awater cooled quench and venturi scrubber 621, a splitter juncture 625, acentrifugal compressor 631, plant fuel gas juncture 630, an acid gasscrubbing system 641, a gas fired furnace 651, and connecting lines 623,627, 629, 633, 643, 645, 647, 649 and 652.

The inlet to the quench and venturi scrubber 621 connects to the gasoutlet line 321 of the preheat assembly 301. The outlet of the quenchand venturi scrubber is connected to a splitter junction 625 by line623. Lines 627 and 629 connect the splitter juncture 625 to the lowpressure inlet of said centrifugal compressor 631 and the plant fuel gasjuncture 630, respectively, providing paths for a portion of cooledspent reducing gas to be re-pressurized and a portion to be utilized asfuel gas for the furnace 651.

Line 629 connects to a plant fuel gas juncture 630 and conduits 647, 649connect the plant fuel gas juncture to the burners of furnace 651 andthe plant fuel gas supply, respectively.

Line 633 connects the high pressure outlet of the compressor 631 to theacid gas scrubbing system 641, providing a path through which compressedreduced gas is purified by removing CO2 and H2S. Part of the gas can bebypassed around the system for H2S control through bypass line 646. Theremoved constituents pass through line 645 for recovery or venting, andthe compressed and purified reducing gas is carried from the scrubber641 by line 643.

Line 643 connects the heating coil inlet of furnace 651 and in turn line652 connects to the heating coil outlet of furnace 651 providing a paththrough which compressed recycle gas may be re-heated and directed backto the reactor assembly 401. The recycle gas outlet line 652 joins withthe fresh reducing gas outlet line 548 from the reducing gas generationassembly 501 and the mixture is sent to the reactor assembly 401 throughline 429.

Recycle Gas Process

The recycle assembly is required to fully utilize the reducing gasproduced in the gas generation assembly. Processes which use aonce-through reduction scheme do not utilize all the reducing gas inreduction and a substantial amount has to be burned as fuel, which isnot thermally efficient.

The spent reducing gas exiting the preheat assembly 301 still has asubstantial amount of CO and H2 in it to be utilized. Due to the highlevels of CO2 and H2O resulting from the reduction reactions in thereactor system, the reducing potential of the gas is low and the CO2 andH2O have to be removed in order to reuse the gas.

The H2O is removed to a low level (0.7-1.5%) by quenching the gas withwater in scrubber 621. This venturi type scrubber 621 also removesentrained fines from the gas. Part of the gas is sent to the reheatfurnace as fuel. When the recycled gas is correctly balanced with thegeneration of fresh reducing gas, the rest is recycled by compressing itin recycle compressor 631 and then removing CO2 and H2S in an acid gasscrubber 641.

The acid gas scrubber 641 removes part of the H2S formed by reaction ofsulfur compounds in the ore with H2 of the reducing gas. Since a smallamount of H2S is required in the reducing gas to avoid metal dustingattack of the furnace tubes and reactor internal, the scrubber designand operation is adequate to allow this level to be controlled, by usingthe bypass when required.

The gas exiting the scrubber 641, now low in H2O and CO2, is heated to750-850 degrees C. in furnace 651 using some reducing gas as fuel. Thehot gas from the furnace 651 is combined with gas from the reducing gasgeneration assembly 501 and sent on to the reactor assembly 401.

It is therefore to be understood the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the present inventionherein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention whichas a matter of language, might be said to fall there between.

Now that the invention has been described, what is claimed is:
 1. Aprocess for direct reduction of raw iron ore fines under 1/2" diameterin a direct reduction plant including an ore feed assembly, amulti-stage fluid bed reactor assembly including a preheat assembly, acompacting/inerting assembly, a reducing gas preparation assembly, and arecycle gas assembly, comprising:a) continuously charging raw iron orefines at a predetermined ore feed rate into said preheat assembly; b)heating said fines by sensible heat of hot reducing offgas exiting saidreactor assembly; c) maintaining said reactor assembly in a pressurizedstate of at least 5 atmospheres; d) fluidizing said fines in saidreactor assembly and producing a 92+% metallized product byi) developingat least three pressurized beds of iron ore staggered downward from anupper bed to a lower bed; ii) fluidizing said beds by passing a productreducing gas upward through each of said beds from said lower bed tosaid upper bed, the product reducing gas including oxygen, mixing aquantity of the oxygen into the fines from the product reducing gas; andiii) removing a portion of the oxygen from said fines by continuouslypassing said preheated ore charge by overflow through each of said bedsfrom said upper bed to said lower bed gravimetrically; and e) compactingreduced iron ore fines.
 2. A process for direct reduction as in claim 1,said process for direct reduction including an ore feed cycling process,said ore feed cycling process includinga) charging iron ore fines under1/2" to an upper lockhopper at atmospheric pressure, where the ore inletof the upper lockhopper is open and the ore outlet is closed; b) uponcompletion of charging the upper lockhopper, the ore inlet is closed andthe upper lockhopper is pressurized to reactor pressure; c) continuouslydischarge iron ore fines from said lower lockhopper into said preheatassembly; d) when the level of ore is low in said lower lockhopper whichis maintained at reactor pressure, opening the ore outlet of thepressurized upper lockhopper; e) upon completion of charging the lowerlockhopper, closing the ore outlet of the upper lockhopper,de-pressurizing the upper lockhopper, and opening the ore inlet of theupper lockhopper for re-filling with iron ore fines; f) re-commencingsteps a, b, d, and e.
 3. A process for direct reduction as in claim 1,said process for direct reduction including a preheat process, saidpreheat process includinga) heating downward flowing iron ore fines fromsaid ore feed assembly with upward flowing gases exiting a middlecyclone; b) separating fines from gases in an upper cyclone; c)discharging fines downward from said upper cyclone and heating by mixingwith upward flowing gases exiting a lower cyclone; d) separating finesfrom gases in said middle cyclone; e) discharging fines downward fromsaid middle cyclone and heating by mixing with upward flowing gases andentrained fines exiting said reducing reactor assembly; f) separatingfines from gases in said lower cyclone; and, g) discharging fines intosaid reducing reactor assembly.
 4. A process for direct reduction as inclaim 1, said process for direct reduction including a reducing reactorprocess, said reducing reactor process includinga) developing fluid bedsbyi) depositing downward flowing fines from said preheat assembly intoan uppermost fluid bed; ii) directing overflow fines from said uppermostfluid bed through successively lower fluid beds; iii) providing anupflow of hot reducing gas from said reducing gas preparation andrecycle gas assemblies through a lowermost and successively higher beds,where the temperature and rate of flow of said hot reducing gas ispre-determined to fluidize and reduce said fines; iv) directing fineswith respect to said hot reducing gas in a counter- or cross-currentrelation in order to facilitate higher reducing activity; and, b)transferring reduced fines from said vessels to an elevated surge drumvie pneumatic transport by utilizing the vessel pressurization forcontrolled delivery to compacting/passivating assembly.
 5. A process fordirect reduction as in claim 1, said process for direct reductionincluding a reducing gas preparation process, said reducing gaspreparation process includinga) heating and desulfurizing natural gas;and, b) producing fresh reducing gas by steam reforming of natural gasof step (a) over a catalyst surface at elevated temperatures.
 6. Aprocess for direct reduction as in claim 1, the process producing anoffgas from the reducing gas containing carbon dioxide (CO2) and water(H2O), said process for direct reduction including a recycle gasprocess, said recycle gas process includinga) removing a portion of theCO2 and H2O from the offgas exiting said preheat assembly and developinga recycle gas byi) quenching said offgas with H2O and removing entrainedfines; iii) compressing a portion of said quenched offgas to obtain acompressed gas; iv) scrubbing the compressed gas to obtain a scrubbedgas; v) burning a second portion of the quenched offgas to heat thescrubbed gas and to obtain a heated gas; and, vi) delivering said heatergas in said reducing reactor assembly as recycle gas.